A fascinating exploration of the concept of human sacrifice in various cultures throughout history. The idea that human sacrifice may have promoted social stability and the evolution of caste systems is particularly thought-provoking. It is a fresh perspective on understanding the past. Thank you for sharing these insights.
If you are a believer at the orthodox end of Christianity (Roman Catholic, eastern Orthodox, high church Anglican maybe) part of your belief is that every Sunday:
- You attend a human sacrifice
- You eat the flesh and perhaps drink the blood of the Victim.
Further, if I understand Mirecea Eliade aright, I think in THE MYTH OF THE ETERNAL RETURN(?), the sacrifice is not a reenactment of but identical with the original sacrifice in Roman Palestine. The topologies of sacred time and space allow this identity. The sacrifice is The Sacrifice, and is the center of the universe.
The thought of Jesus's sacrifice definitely occurred to me, but it didn't feel quite in scope -- aka I couldn't fit in any insights that didn't feel like an awkward digression -- because it felt almost more like "god sacrificing for people" and not "people sacrificing to god" if that makes sense? I know there's some ambiguity because Jesus is both "person" and "god" but the crucifixion doesn't feel like it was intended as a sacrifice *to* god. It definitely fits the "radical act of love" aspect, and so is similar to the example of Dido's self-sacrifice, but I didn't feel comfortable staking out a position of "Dido is just like Jesus" heh. I need to think more on this, tbh.
It is very unclear to me what Jesus thought as his death approached. If the Bible record is accurate (big if), he knew he was walking into a death-trap and it seems he did it willingly.
- Did he think he was God? It is very unclear. Somehow overlapping, is my guess.
- Did he think he as making a sacrifice AS a God? Unclear, from the above; and so it is unclear if he could have seen himself as a sin offering, as Christianity often does.
- It seems to me he thought his God and Father wanted him to do it. The awful moment when he said "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani..." suggests it did not work out as he thought.
So maybe the issue is: is going obediently to certain death assimilable to the idea of sacrifice? Sorry to be so dark, but it is a question terribly relevant now.
A fascinating exploration of the concept of human sacrifice in various cultures throughout history. The idea that human sacrifice may have promoted social stability and the evolution of caste systems is particularly thought-provoking. It is a fresh perspective on understanding the past. Thank you for sharing these insights.
Umm, this is obvious...
If you are a believer at the orthodox end of Christianity (Roman Catholic, eastern Orthodox, high church Anglican maybe) part of your belief is that every Sunday:
- You attend a human sacrifice
- You eat the flesh and perhaps drink the blood of the Victim.
Further, if I understand Mirecea Eliade aright, I think in THE MYTH OF THE ETERNAL RETURN(?), the sacrifice is not a reenactment of but identical with the original sacrifice in Roman Palestine. The topologies of sacred time and space allow this identity. The sacrifice is The Sacrifice, and is the center of the universe.
The thought of Jesus's sacrifice definitely occurred to me, but it didn't feel quite in scope -- aka I couldn't fit in any insights that didn't feel like an awkward digression -- because it felt almost more like "god sacrificing for people" and not "people sacrificing to god" if that makes sense? I know there's some ambiguity because Jesus is both "person" and "god" but the crucifixion doesn't feel like it was intended as a sacrifice *to* god. It definitely fits the "radical act of love" aspect, and so is similar to the example of Dido's self-sacrifice, but I didn't feel comfortable staking out a position of "Dido is just like Jesus" heh. I need to think more on this, tbh.
It is very unclear to me what Jesus thought as his death approached. If the Bible record is accurate (big if), he knew he was walking into a death-trap and it seems he did it willingly.
- Did he think he was God? It is very unclear. Somehow overlapping, is my guess.
- Did he think he as making a sacrifice AS a God? Unclear, from the above; and so it is unclear if he could have seen himself as a sin offering, as Christianity often does.
- It seems to me he thought his God and Father wanted him to do it. The awful moment when he said "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani..." suggests it did not work out as he thought.
So maybe the issue is: is going obediently to certain death assimilable to the idea of sacrifice? Sorry to be so dark, but it is a question terribly relevant now.